Synthetic turf has been used for years in athletic playing surfaces such as football, baseball, and soccer fields, and has more recently been used in other applications where an alternative to natural grass is desired. These applications include at least playgrounds, residential and commercial lawns and other landscaping, jogging paths, paintball fields, tennis courts, putting greens, and dog runs. Typically, synthetic turf includes a pile fabric having a backing and a plurality of upstanding ribbons, also called face fibers or filiform formations, resembling grass. Many synthetic turf products also include an infill material dispersed among the upstanding ribbons, which may consist of sand, tire rubber crumb, or other particulates, either singularly or in combination with each other. The infill material simulates the soil in natural turf, acts as a ballast, and/or contributes to the physical properties of the turf, such as resiliency, that make the turf suitable for a particular use.
Synthetic turf has a limited useful life, the length of which depends on the construction of the turf, the application for which it is used, and how the turf is maintained. As an example, a typical synthetic turf for use as an athletic field may have a useful life of from about 8 to 15 years. A large amount of synthetic turf is currently being used in thousands of athletic fields and in other applications. To avoid sending that turf to landfills at the end of its useful life, there is a need for a method of recycling and reusing all or portions of the synthetic turf. There is also a need for a synthetic turf that is recyclable.